


It wasn't love at first sight (or second or third)

by boaterV



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-29
Updated: 2014-04-17
Packaged: 2018-01-17 12:12:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1387201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boaterV/pseuds/boaterV
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darcy uses blackmail to get into SHIELD. This is the story of how many times it takes her to finally notice Coulson.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Their first meeting had been inauspicious. He’d taken everything from her including her ipod. Her precious purveyor of peace. The thing that kept her sane when the world got to be a bit too much. When Jane pushed too hard or reality threatened to crack her hard candy shell.

Of course all that had been dwarfed when she had been forced to run for her life. Stepping up and doing her best to save the people of her tiny temporary home town. She watched as Thor selflessly offered himself up to the destroyer in their place.

Hero.

It was a word that was offered to baseball players and musicians so often people sometimes forgot what it really meant. In a world were Hollywood actors made the front page when they died and World War II vets remained hidden in the opinion pages Thor was an oddity. 

 

An oddity that made her want to do more with her life. How was she supposed to go back to regular life when she had seen amazing? The simple answer was she couldn’t.

So when SHIELD offered her the Non Disclosure agreement she put up a stink. Said she couldn’t keep quiet. Wouldn’t keep quiet unless they offered her a job. 

She was delusional. She knew Thor was a god and Iron man was a genius. Her skill set didn’t include those attributes but that didn’t mean she couldn’t help out. It would be better to be a cog in the wheels of justice then a star in the disillusioned public. 

Somehow they caved instead of simply packing her off to some hidden SHIELD facility to wipe her mind. She wasn’t sure if they could do that but she certainly wouldn’t be surprised. Meeting Agent Coulson and the rest of the SHIELD goons had made her seriously rethink her world view. Some of the more ridiculous conspiracy theories she had heard suddenly didn’t seem so impossible. 

That was how she ‘met’ him again. He was her welcome wagon when she arrived at SHIELD for her first day of training. Of course true to his position he handed her off to a junior agent almost immediately but still he had been there to welcome her and return her ipod.

“Don’t I feel special, or do you greet every new recruit?” Darcy felt a bit of her nervousness melt away at his familiar face. If you could call it familiar.

“Only the ones that blackmail their way in.” She couldn’t be sure if he was angry, joking or having the best day of his life. He was probably amazing at poker.

“I would consider it extortion. Blackmail has a much uglier connotation.” She smiled and tried not to wonder if the lip twitch he offered her was a smile or not.

“Agent Sullivan will be your training officer but I’m available if you need anything.” Agent Coulson nodded at Agent Sullivan. “Don’t need anything.”

“Don’t think you are going to get any special treatment because you are friends with Coulson.” Darcy looked at him confused. He didn’t seem friendly. This was only the second conversation they’d ever had.

“I didn’t get here because of who I know. I got here because of what I know. And a little bit of questionable morals.” Agent Sullivan frowned again. So much for a sense of humor. She was on her way to greatness. Or at least greatness adjacent.


	2. 2

The third time they met was right before the battle of New York. She had been temporarily assigned to his office as a secretary. Well that wasn’t the title they had given her of course because you don’t send an 'Agent in Training' in to file things. You tell her you are going to be shadowing one on the most respected Agents in all of Shield, you tell her it’s part of her training. Then you tell her how you like your coffee and send her to the corner deli for sandwiches. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Darcy snatched the list out of his hand.

“Do we have a problem Miss Lewis?” His voice was calm. No hint of annoyance and his lip did that quirk again. 

“Not at all. I appreciate that Shield is calling on my old skill set.” Sarcasm dripped from her words but the smile was genuine. “I will draw the line at tucking you in though. That was special treatment for mad scientists only.” Her words caused an unwelcome image in her head. Coulson tucked under crisp white sheets. It sent a shiver a heat to her core. 

“So I guess that eliminates the possibility of warm milk and a lullaby too. Too bad. I have a hard time sleeping without a soothing melody.” Darcy’s eyes went wide with shock. Not that she knew Agent I pod stealer very well but he hadn’t shown himself to be a very joking kind of guy. 

“I myself prefer the song of whales but I’m weird like that.” This time his lips did tilt up in the tiniest of smiles.

“I know this isn’t what you wanted but I needed someone I could trust and Barton speaks very highly of you.” Coulson turned away as he spoke the words so he missed the shocked look on her face. 

“Agent arms and you chit chat about me? I’m trying to picture the scene. Was there coffee involved? No wait, ice cream cones and a park bench.” She smiled brightly at the idea of them basking in the sunshine, in their bathing suits. Yeah. That was a mental picture she was going to save for later. 

“That’s classified.” There was a barb waiting on the tip of her tongue but she didn’t get it out because Agent Coulson was suddenly very close to her. Close enough that she could smell his aftershave. Something woodsy and clean. “I need you to be my eyes and ears for a while.” His words had dropped down to a whisper and she understood why he had moved close.

She leveled her gaze at him. Shaking herself out of the stupor his proximity had caused and thought about the implications to what he was asking. “Okay.”

He stared back for a moment before nodding and turning away. 

So she played the game. Filing papers and getting coffee all the while she kept her ear to the ground. Listening to the other agents idle chit chat in the hopes of hearing something of value. Something that would let Coulson know he had chosen correctly. She should feel like a snitch but if one of these agents was putting her heroes in danger then she wasn’t about to let that slide. 

Yes she thought of them as her's even if Thor and Hawkeye were the only ones she had met. They belonged to her. To her and everyone else that trusted them to protect them.

\------------------------------------------

“I’m sending you to Norway.” Phil looked angry. Funny how it had only taken her a few weeks to learn with those tiny lip twitches meant. 

“I’m sorry. It sounded like you were sending me to a frozen wasteland?” She watched as he closed the door and slipped behind her desk. She was gong to be angry but she noticed the look on his face. He was worried. It was the same look he got when Agents missed their check in.

“Jane is there.” Coulson was doing his best to remain calm. 

“People are talking. I heard Clint’s name mentioned more than once. Is he okay?” 

“You know Barton.” That wasn’t an answer. That was avoidance and Darcy began to worry in earnest. “You and some of the junior agents are on a Shield charter leaving in about an hour.”

She wanted to argue but she knew it was pointless. There was no discussion when it came to his orders. “How long will I be gone?”

“Till it’s safe.” Her worry turned up in earnest now but she didn’t get a chance to question him because The Black Widow walked in the room and Darcy just tried to keep her jaw from hitting the floor.

Darcy nodded and left the room. Whatever was happening was big and she wasn’t ready to be a part of it. Hero adjacent apparently meant Norway.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She sat next to Jane in their hotel room watching the siege of New York. She watched as The avengers fought, she watched as people ran screaming through the streets and all she wanted to do was help. She was angry at Coulson for sending her away. Yes she was only an agent in training but she could have done something. Anything. She could have helped with the evacuation. With the triage. Hell she would have gladly brought people coffee if it meant she was helping.

That was why she had joined Sheild. 

She knew there would be plenty to do when she got back but right now she just felt helpless. 

“When I get back Agent I pod stealer is going to get a serious piece of my mind.”

“Darcy I’m sure he just wanted to keep you safe.”

“What am I some hot house flower? I survived the Destroyer. I survived training with Hawkeye! I’m Bad Ass with a capitol BA!” Darcy was furious and frustrated. A bad combination and she was going to launch into an epic tirade but then she saw Jane’s face. Thor was back. He was back and he hadn’t contacted her. 

“Are you hungry Jane?” Darcy pushed her anger aside and went back into mother mode. She couldn’t help in New York but Jane needed her. The least she could do was help her friend. It felt small against the scope of devastation the Avengers were facing but it was something and it would keep her busy until she could do something more.

“I could order us some room service? I mean I’m not starving but I’m pretty sure a burger wouldn’t hurt. Yeah that sounds perfect. Some food. I’ll just order us something to nosh on and we can talk about all the ways we are going to celebrate when this if over?”

Darcy didn’t wait for a response from Jane. Didn’t expect one either. Instead she slipped into her old hat of Scientist wrangler and best friend and tried to keep Jane from going insane wondering what it meant that Thor hadn’t contacted her. If it also helped her not to worry about Coulson well then that was just a bonus.


	3. 3

3  
When it was over she had headed back. Jane was off to New Mexico with official word that Thor had requested she be sent out of harms way and a knowledge that he still cared for her. Darcy went back to New York to help with the cleanup and to give Coulson a piece of her mind. 

At least that had been the plan until she had landed. It was chaos. Destruction and devastation like she had never seen. People wandering lost and confused as they searched for loved ones. The avengers had managed to keep the death toll in the single digits but that didn’t mean people weren’t still broken. Safety had been snatched from them. The illusion of the world had been stripped away and reality was scary.

Her floor of Shield was being used as a communication hub. They were coordinating the continued rescue efforts and the beginning cleanup. Darcy marched into Coulson’s office. She wanted to make sure he never sent her away again but he wasn’t there.

“Can I help you Agent Lewis?” Agent Sitwell was sitting behind Coulson’s desk. He looked harried and tired and she couldn’t blame him. 

“I was looking for Coulson.” She felt a wave of panic wash over her. No way would he not be in change of the rescue operations. 

“Have a seat Agent.” That was the second time he had called her Agent instead of Agent in Training. “Agent Coulson was a casualty of the Siege of New York. He left instructions that you are to continue on as a liaison to this office and that you are to be promoted to full agent.”

She knew she should have felt pride at being promoted to full agent status but she didn’t care. Coulson was gone and Sitwell had just told her like he had lost her phone charger. 

So the fourth time she met him she didn’t really see him at all. She stood between Clint and Agent Hill at some quickly cobbled together memorial. It was a closed coffin but there was a large framed picture of Coulson on an easel. He had that tiny hint of a smile. The one where his lips twitched up ever so slightly when something amused him. 

“I’m so sorry Clint.” She whispered the words towards him as she left the service. It was supposed to offer closure but for too many it just caused pain. For Darcy there was regret. So much regret and she wasn’t even sure why. She had barely gotten to know Coulson.   
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Lewis, My office.” Sitwell’s voice boomed over the speaker. Coulson had been all quiet power and respect but Sitwell was much more in your face. She thought he knew he could never fill Coulson’s shoes so instead of trying he became a different man. A loud man who made lots of colorful threats. Still he was her boss so she pushed back from her desk and marched into his office. 

“Yes sir?” Darcy barely got the words out before she noticed Director Fury standing in the corner. 

“You’re dismissed Agent Sitwell.” Darcy saw the confusion cross his face before he left the room. You didn’t argue with Fury. Well you didn’t argue with Fury unless you were Tony Stark and then it was practically S.O.P.

“Have a seat Agent Lewis.” Darcy moved towards the chair he motioned to. Her eyes tracking the director as he moved to the chair behind the desk. Coulson’s chair. “He was a good agent.”

Darcy didn’t need to ask who he was talking about. The look on his face told her. “He was sir.” 

“Did you like working with him?” He watched her closely and she felt nervous. Something she hadn’t felt in a while. 

“Very much.” Darcy felt a tightness in her chest when she thought about Coulson. Fury watched her reaction and smiled. 

“Follow me Agent Lewis. I need you to tell no one what I’m about to reveal to you. What you are about to see. Is that understood?” Darcy nodded as she followed him out the door. He remained silent as they entered the elevator and he punched in his code. Suddenly they were descending deeper than she thought the building went. It’s not like she thought she had an all access pass just because she was an agent. She knew there were levels even within Shield. 

When the elevator stopped the doors opened and Fury punched in another code and placed his eye against a retinal scanner. It took a moment but the door finally slid open and Darcy was greeted with the sights and sounds of a secure medical facility. 

She followed Fury as he turned down a few hallways, a million questions on her tongue until they were finally secured in a small room. One wall held a large window with the curtain drawn.

“This is level seven. You will be one of about ten people who will have this information. You are to speak to no one. Am I making myself clear Agent Lewis?”

“Yes Director.” She was horrible at keeping secrets. Horrible. She was even worse at poker. She wanted to tell him he had the wrong person for the job. Wanted to tell him he was insane for trusting her with this level of information. It wasn’t that she would want to betray anything. Certainly that wouldn’t be the case. She just wasn’t a very good liar. She had been told numerous times that her face was an open book. 

She didn’t say a word though because the only thing stronger than Darcy’s honesty was her curiosity. Something was behind that curtain and she needed to find out whatever she had to promise. 

The suspense was killing her as Fury looked her over. Weighing whether or not her words were the truth. Whether or not she thought about the consequences of his words before he finally nodded and pulled the curtain back.

Darcy gasped and took a step closer to the glass. Not sure if her eyes were playing a trick on her. 

Agent Phil Coulson was sitting up in a hospital bed wearing a blue gown. He was looking over a pile of files on the table in front of him. Wincing as he reached for the water and twisted his body too far. 

“He was dead. For 12 seconds before the medics got his heart started. He flat lined twice more while they repaired the damage Loki’s scepter had done.”

“But the team…”

“Must not know about this right now.” Darcy wanted to argue with him. She had seen the devastation Coulson’s death had left in it’s wake. He was supposed to be a super spy. He was supposed to be invincible. Even seasoned Agents that knew better thought Coulson was the exception to the rule. 

“Why me?”

“Truthfully? My list of qualified Agents for this job put you at about my 97th choice but he asked for you.”

Darcy looked confused. She wasn’t insulted by Fury’s words. She agreed with him. There were too many agents to count with more seniority. More Training. More everything and yet he had asked for her. 

“Go in. He’s been waiting for you. When you’re done come to my office.”

When she saw him for the fifth time she smiled. A single tear slipped down her face as he turned and smiled up at her. A genuine smile. Perhaps only the third or fourth she had ever seen. He slipped the mask back in place though. He knew they were being watched and he had already given them too much by ensuing she was chosen. 

“Agent Lewis.”

“Agent Coulson.” She followed his lead. Pushing her emotions aside. Whatever his reason for choosing her was he would reveal it in due time. Right now she was very much aware of Fury’s eyes on her through the one way mirror. Coulson had to know they were being watched too. “Reporting for duty as instructed.”

“Good to have you back, we have a lot to do and I have a lot to catch up on. I’ll need you here during the days while I am recovering. Director Fury has arranged it so that you can have the room next to mine. You are to be on call 24hrs a day although I don’t anticipate the need to disturb your sleep.” Darcy raised an eyebrow at that. 

“Yes sir.” Coulson noticed the glint in her eye. Knew at some point he was going to have to explain everything to her but right now she would keep quiet. Play along. That was why he had requested her. She had understood him faster than any assistant he had ever had. She was intuitive. Understood people and when she learned to trust herself she would make one hell of an agent.

Then there was her loyalty. She might have threatened Shield but the reason they had let her in was because she would never follow through. She would never betray her friends even if it was for something she truly wanted. They had checked into her. Not just some simple Google search either. A team of Shield interrogators had looked into every aspect of her life. Her friends, her teachers, her family, even the barista she preferred at the local coffee shop. 

They all said the same thing. 

He had seen it too. Tested her to be sure. Letting little things slip when she was working for him but nothing had gotten back to him. Nothing. Not even the tiniest detail. 

“We start tomorrow Agent Lewis.” He nodded at her and she turned and left the room. She wanted a full explanation but for right now she could wait. 

“With me Agent.” Darcy closed the door and followed the Director. “You will be working with Agent Coulson here for the next month and then you will follow him to Figi for the rest of his recovery.”

“Yes sir.”

“You are to do anything he asks as long as it doesn’t involve informing the rest of the team or reading the file on the battle of New York. Those rules apply to you as well Agent Lewis.”

“Yes sir.”

He pushed open a door and she realized she was in her room. Well her new room. Everything that had been in her old room had been moved down here. She shuddered at the thought of some new agent moving her underwear drawer. 

Sheild wasn’t exactly big on privacy.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When she walked into Agent Coulson’s room the next morning she couldn’t help but feel like it was the start of something big. Something that would change everything. 

At first is was more on the same. She was his sounding board and his gopher. Getting files and passing messages. Listening to him rattle off theories as a physical therapist pushed him to his limits. 

Once she saw him grimace and she knew the pain must have been intense but his focus never waived and Darcy began to wonder if Agent Couson was human. Then she snuck in ice cream and he smiled at her and she ran into her first problem. 

Darcy Lewis had a crush on her boss.

Sure she had always been aware of how awesome he was. Handsome and strong not to mention capable and powerful. Plus he had a playful side. Although he usually kept it well hidden she had glimpsed it a few times.

He was a romantic. Darcy had been jealous of his Cellist in Portland. Not because she had wanted Coulson for herself but because she had wanted any man that would treat her like that. 

When she was laying in her bed that night going over why her feelings had changed she began to wonder why it was taken so long. Certainly most normal woman would find Couson a catch.

Three days later when they flew to Figi she had just about convinced herself that she was being ridiculous, that Agent Coulson was her boss and she was a professional. There was work to be done. Work she was going to loose herself in. 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All done. Thanks for all the Kudos.

**Author's Note:**

> I love the idea of Brash and Bold Darcy and straight laced Coulson. It was has such a great opposites attract vibe.


End file.
